Friday, October 11, 2013

I don't know about you but it's been a long week! I'm still trying my best to not stress out about this being day 9 of my hubby not going to work because of the government shutdown. Gotta laugh at the craziness or go crazy thinking about it! I am definitely off my game. So distracted I walked right into the men's restroom at Walmart yesterday. Thank God no one was in there!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Shutdown. No I'm not referring to the fact that I haven't blogged in months. I'm referring to our government shutdown. Tomorrow will be the 5th day that my husband will not be going to work. In the past he was considered "essential" and not furloughed but for some reason this time it's different. Didn't find out this lovely news until the day before. Day one I wasn't worried because I foolishly thought they would get it together and agree on something by the end of the day. Okay, for sure on the second day. Nope. So I shared my worries with my parents by calling them and letting them in on the news. Only fair since I get my worry gene from my mother. By the third day I'm starting to get stressed out and feeling sorry for myself. I head off to my "for fun" job and try and forget about the whole thing. Didn't work. As I'm driving home I see a guy that lives a couple doors down from us walking in the neighborhood. This guy has been battling cancer for years and has been at death's door several times. It occurs to me that my worries are nothing compared to his. My family and I are healthy. Yes this is a pain. Yes it's ridiculous but it will all work out. It might not for my neighbor. So now anytime this starts to worry me I think about my neighbor and what he is going through which makes me say a prayer for him. Does it stop me from worrying? No but my neighbor has been getting a lot of prayers. Never a bad thing!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Today is my Mom's birthday! It is fitting that she was born on Valentine's Day because she is the sweetest person I know. Here is a picture of her and my Dad on their 50th wedding anniversary this past November.

Can you believe she is celebrating her 70th birthday?! Obviously 70 is the new 50. Hope it runs in the family!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided to make it for my kids. They were easy to make but next time I will make it with them because they would have fun cutting out the shapes. They ate them all up in one day. Don't judge. It happens.

Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray and place in the refrigerator. Combine 2 C sugar, applesauce, jello, unflavored gelatin and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Let stand for 1 minute. It will look like this:

Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. By now it will look like this:

Anyone else see a smiley face in the above pic? After boiling for one minute immediately pour into the cold 9 x 13 pan. It will have the white foaming looking stuff on top which is fine. Refrigerate until firm (2-3 hours).

Now comes the only tricky part. You need to invert this onto a cutting board or wax paper that is covered with sugar. It will not just pop out of the pan so I peeled it up by hand and plopped it on the cutting board upside down. It's really sticky and didn't fall apart or tear during this step. Couldn't take a pic of this process because I don't have three arms so this is the after picture.

Now comes the kid friendly part. Cut out the gumdrops with cookie cutters. Place the cut out gumdrops on a piece of wax paper that has been covered in sugar. You want sugar on both sides so place the side down that did not get sugar from the cutting board.

Let dry for 8 hours or until slightly sticky. My experience was that they were exactly the same 8 hours later. If the kids make these with you they will not want to wait 8 hours so let them eat them right away! Any leftovers store in an airtight container.

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Since I gave my kids such a sugary, gonna pay for this later in dental bills, treat I decided to give them this little gift.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

You are going to be so happy I have a Pinterest obsession and found this recipe. Not sure why I picked this one out of the hundreds thousands I have pinned but I'm really glad I did. This recipe replaces the oil and eggs with pumpkin puree. Better for you! I know it sounds gross but it doesn't change the flavor. You have got to try these!

You just need these 3 ingredients:

1 Boxed Chocolate Cake Mix

1 Small Can Pumpkin Puree (15 oz.)

6 oz. of Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cake mix and canned pumpkin with a mixer for about 2 minutes. Stir in almost all of the 6 oz. of chocolate chips. Spoon into muffin tin with liners. Batter is thick and will not rise as much as a normal cupcake so fill almost to the top. Add remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake for 22-25 min. until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Teri's Tips:

DO NOT taste the batter! It tastes nasty unbaked.

To prevent yourself from eating all of them in one day you can freeze them.

They taste extra yummy heated in the microwave and served with a big 'ole glass of milk.